How to Make Sure that Your Shots Are Always Perfectly Aligned

In still life and product photography, you sometimes need to take perfectly aligned photographs of a product in order to clearly show its design. Here are some tips on how you can get the most aligned shots.

First, always use a tripod. This goes without saying; you need a stable platform in order to make fine adjustments to your setup. I prefer 3-axis heads over the other types available.

Don’t try to eyeball it. While you may have the impression that your shot is nicely aligned, once you go on the computer, you’ll inevitably realise that you were wrong.

Use a lenght-measuring software on your computer. If you are photographing with your camera tethered to a computer, use program like PixelStick to measure the distance between two lines. For example, drag some guides in Capture One to the 4 vertical edges of a product and make sure the distances between the left edges and the right edges are the same. This tip is probably the most important of the bunch.

Get your camera leveled. Most cameras come with a built-in digital “artificial horizon”. It makes it really easy to level your camera.